Payment At Petrol Station - Undercharged In Error !

exel1966

About an hour ago, I filled up my car at a Tesco service station approx 40 miles from where I live.

As usual I requested a receipt, upon checking that receipt 5 mins ago it appears that I have paid for somebody elses fuel as the receipt is £50 less than it should be. I used pump number 2 (£70) whereas they've charged me for pump number 5 (£20) !! I used my c/card for the transaction and stupidly didn't notice the amount when keying in my pin.

At the time of the transaction the sales staff were very busy and the one who dealt with me was concerned about a possible drive off without paying from the pump next to mine and was therefore obviously distracted.

The thing is I now obviously owe Tesco £50, but what concerns me more is that they may think that I have attempted to deliberatley drive off without paying, which is not the case. The consequences of that are obviously serious. I have tried to call the store concerned, but they are now closed. I just hope they have not informed the police ! Some may say I've been lucky and got £50 worth of fuel for nothing, but I don't see it like that !

Anybody out there work in a petrol station and had a similar occurence ? What happened ? Any ideas as to what I should do next ?

banger9365

just think of that poor person that got your bill £4.37 a litre for about 16/17 ltrs

exel1966

It may happen occasionally, but I wouldn't think for one minute they would let me have £50 of free fuel.
As for charging somebody else for my fuel, they just wouldn't be able to do it.

littleredhen

don't mean to be patronising but are you sure its your receipt - last time i requested a receipt it spat out a receipt and it turned out to be the person before us and didn't print ours out and we didn't want to go in as it was busy but we made a note how much we had spent and it appeared on our statement so it was the receipt machine that was wrong - does it print out the last 4 digits or something for you to check - sorry you may have already done this so ignore my post if you have!

exel1966

It's definately my receipt.

littleredhen

you could try ringing them in the morning and ask to speak to the duty manager and explain what happened - i think even at customer services head office for Tesco they close about 4pm on sundays - or you could pop in in the morning??

LillyJ

This happened to me once but they realised before I got to my car. They shouted at "the owner of the red punto" to stay where she was and put the keys on the floor! I was sooooo embarrased as I had no idea what was going on. They came over and explained, but when I tried to say it was their fault they made out like I was some sort of criminal! It was a genuine mistake.

I would just call Tesco tomorrow, they may just say to keep it as a gesture of goodwill for their error, as you have been honest. I doubt they will think you have dont it on purpose, so don't worry about that. Keep your receipt, if in the unlikely event they have told the police, the police will soon see the error and will not pursue it.

"Bilkings" (where people take petrol and then drive off) normally consist of the person using fake plates then driving off from the scene. They certainly don't go in to the shop and pay for someone else's fuel by mistake and the police know this!

Cumbrian_Male

The other person will have quoted their pump number and when found to have been paid for, they will notice the transaction on your pump still pending.

They will also have a recording of your number plate, I would call them in the morning and explain what happened.

C_Ronaldo

Its already been said but just explain it wasnt your fault but the eprson who served you was distracted

pokemon151

I used to manage Tesco Expresses with petrol forecourts.
What happens is it gets put down to a Drive Off. (They have a set budget for that)
The CCTV will be viewed and the cashier spoken to.
He/She will defend themselves by saying you said the wrong pump!
If Tesco have your registration they will contact the DVLA and obtain your details then send you a letter explaining what has happend and ask you to come pay the difference.
The police will not get involved as your car is registered to a known keeper and therefore not a Crime.
If you wish you can pay the difference which will better their dirve off budget, I would take it as a gain and hope that the cashier always gets it wrong.
Good luck to you.

JDMYOFAN

You won't get done for attempting to drive off, as you clearly attempted to pay by entering the petrol station.

I used to work in a petrol station, and the employee will get a slapped wrist, regardless of whether you pay tesco their £50. It's happened to me, an easy mistake.